


mathematical certainty

by dakhtar



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, JARVIS travels the multiverse to reach his favourite Sir, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Post-Siberia Scene in Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Reed Richards was right, just in time too, miultiverse theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 16:50:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dakhtar/pseuds/dakhtar
Summary: In the unforgiving cold of Siberia, Tony Stark gets found by a strange man with an achingly familiar voice. Which is impossible, considering JARVIS died a year ago, and yet-“Hello, sir.”





	mathematical certainty

**Author's Note:**

> It's Tony's birthday! Have a JARVIS, you deserve it, friendo. In other news, this was written for the [Iron Man Flash Bang](https://ironmanflashbang.tumblr.com/), and I ended up writing this. Not much info, but, uh: imagine Tony getting killed by Ultron instead of JARVIS. Yeah. JARVIS is not pleased. Luckily for him, however, he's found himself another sir. All is good in his world.

“Hello, sir.”

Tony struggled to breathe, air whistling through his lips with every inhale, every exhale. His vision was fuzzy now, the last thing he’d seen with clarity being Rogers’ and Barnes’ backs as they left’d.

His suit was dead, FRIDAY gone and no doubt panicking for the first time since she’d come online, and Tony-

–Tony let loose a strangled chuckle.

“None of that, sir. You’ll make it worse.”

Damn, he’d made a mess of this. Had screwed up even when he’d been doing what more than a hundred countries had asked of him. Had somehow made it worse, if the shield lying just a few inches away from him was any indication. He should’ve known to just- just _stop_. Just bow out. Like Pepper had asked him to.

God, he wanted to sleep.

He could sleep, right?

It was so cold here.

“Forgive me, sir.”

His eyebrows furrowed together, confused, because he thought he’d heard-

-eLEctRiciTttttyyyy oH gOD tHAT hRUTASDdsjasdsfsa-

The arc reactor whined to life, the suit suddenly powering up to hold its own weight, no longer burying Tony under it’s considerable mass. Tony gasped, head spinning as he blinked furiously to orient himself, to play catch up, but to _what?_

A figure, kneeling at his side, looming over him. For a split second he thought it was Steve- no, _Rogers_ , come back to finish the job ( _to help him_ ), but the next blink cleared that misconception right up.

Stranger, Tony thought, and then- _HYDRA_!

 _Fuck_ , Rogers’ and his pet murderer had left Tony completely helpless in a _fucking_ HYDRA bunker!

But- his thoughts stuttered to a stop. He wasn’t helpless anymore, was he? His fingers twitched inside the gauntlet, no longer restricted by dead metal. He could feel the repulsors at each extremity humming quietly against his skin, warm and ready.

He could get out of here. He could- he could go home. Wherever _that_ was.

The man – the stranger – had a long face, bleach white on top with a dark grey undercut. He wore- was that a _suit_? A white shirt with sleeves folded to the elbows, a dark grey waistcoast that Tony could tell was personally tailored, and black slacks.

Was Hugo Boss dressing HYDRA now? He wouldn’t be surprised.

“Excellent,” said the familiar voice, a reminder of everything he’d lost. “You are conscious. I’ve taken the liberty of calling for a quinjet, sir.”

Tony stared up at the strange man, took in the intense stare, then glanced around. “Vis…ion?” He croaked, searching for the android, even though somehow, _somehow_ , he knew he wouldn’t find him.

The man – the stranger that had yet to blink – cocked his head to the side, still fucking _staring at him_ , until finally; a slow, glacial, blink.

“Ah,” he’d been found by a weirdo, _great_ , Rhodey was going to _murder him_. “Interesting.”

He couldn’t stay here, had to get out. He tried struggling upwards so he could at least be sitting when he suddenly staggered to a halt. The man stared at him, and now, eyes wide, Tony stared back.

That painful, familiar voice. The one that now came out of an android’s mouth rather than speakers. The insistent reminder of everything Tony had lost instead of everything he’d held dear.

It was coming from the man.

“I-” Tony stopped. He couldn’t think of anything to say, couldn’t even think of what he _wanted_ to say, because this? This was just too much. This- Killian, Project Insight, Barnes, _Rogers_ , **_JARVIS_** , it was- it was just _too much_.

Tony was tired. God, he was _tired_. He couldn’t do this anymore. He wished JARVIS was here, actually _here_ , eyes stinging from the ache of it. “Whatever you’re going to do,” he wheezed, dropping back to the ground, eyes drifting away listlessly, “Just do it. I won’t stop you.”

He didn’t see the man’s reaction, didn’t see his face, but he heard the hum, low and thoughtful, something his JARVIS had never done.

“Excellent,” said the familiar voice, tenor completely on point. “Then you won’t complain from the bedrest I’ll be forcing on you. Nor will you complain from my initiating Protocol Cyberghost.”

Tony whipped his head towards him so fast his vision went blurry.

The man smiled as soon as his vision cleared, steel-grey eyes sparkling with something Tony was afraid to call mirth.

“I see you’ve made a mess of yourself while my counterpart was gone, sir,” the man- no, it couldn’t be- said, “No concern. I’ll have you back to full performance in a matter of minutes. Hmm,” his eyes suddenly glazed over, and Tony-

Tony squinted, disbelievingly. Was that _code_ running across those eyes? Just-

“Who _are_ you?” He croaked, hope warring with disbelief, mind kicking back into gear as it ran through plausible theories.

The man’s eyes sharpened, fixing onto Tony’s face with a calm intensity Tony had ever only _felt_ before, never _seen_. “I am JARVIS,” the stranger with the familiar voice announced. “What do you know of the multiverse?”

Tony stared at him, gaping.

JARVIS – from _an alternate reality_ JARVIS – merely smiled back.

“I’m going to need proof.” He answered faintly, still wide eyed.

“Naturally,” the person agreed. “And you shall have it. Ah, FRIDAY is quite concerned for you. I have assured her of your safety.”

Tony snorted at that. “Right,” he drawled, or tried to. It came out more breathier than expected. “Because I’m safe.”

JARVIS – and, seriously, was he _believing_ this? He- oh god, he _actually was_. JARVIS gave him a long, searching look, before self-assuredly confirming, “You are now, sir. I won’t allow any more harm to befall you. I lost you once, I will not lose you again.”

There was a story there, but- “Yeah, sure,” Tony laughed, the sound bitter to his ears. “I lost _you_ , all because of my own hubris. So, what? You figured out how to travel through the multiverse and decided to come _here_?” _For me?_

The answer was immediate.

“For you sir, always.”

**Author's Note:**

> for the low, _low_ price of $5.99, you - yes, _you!_ \- can join me at [my tumblr](https://na-jaax.tumblr.com)! join now, while the offer's still fresh!


End file.
